Just a phone call away from you
by miriamsantacruz
Summary: Vincent is away with his new girlfriend when someone kidnaps Catherine. She's allowed just one phone call. Rated M for implicit rape, so don't read if you don't like the idea.
1. Chapter 1

"Ca-the-ri-ne" – He said softly into her ear while caressing the skin of her neck.

It didn't take long for him to handcuff her to her own bed, the same bed he knew she and Vincent had once shared not long ago. She was tiny and terrified at the very sight of his black costume, because she knew who he was and was he was able to do. He had also blindfolded her because he knew he would have to get rid of his costume for doing what he was planning to do with her. She was lying there, shaking as a prey knowing that there wasn't anything she could do to escape the forthcoming agony. Or was she wrong?

"I'm not such a bad person, dear Catherine. You said that if Vincent knew I was here trying to harm you, he would leave anything he would be doing to help you. Ok, then. Here goes my offer: You can use this mobile. Call him. Ask him to come and help you, and if he does both of you will have a chance. But, he stressed the word with a scary tone that made her flinch– If he doesn't, you would let me do anything I want to you or I'll kill him. Do we have a deal?"

Catherine smiled in her inside. Of course he would come, he had always come to help her. The man put the mobile next to her ear and dialed. One, two, three tones and…voicemail.

"Oh-oh" He said laughing "Maybe your hero is a bit, let's say, busy with his new girlfriend, Susan. Is that her name?"

Tears started to fall down her cheeks. Maybe he was sleeping, it was late. He never silenced his mobile because he knew he could be required by his friends.

"Let me try again, please. Only once more" –She begged.

"I'll do that, yes, and I'll even let you leave a message." He laughed out loud "Sorry, I had never imagined this would be so funny. Look at you. You really think you're important for him, don't you? Let me tell you something: You're wrong. No one is as important for Vincent Keller as himself. And I bet he's taking good care of that one person right now and that's why he isn't picking up."

He put the phone again next to her ear and dialed. One, two, three…voicemail.

"Vincent!" She cried "Vincent, please, pick up the phone! Vincent!" she was now screaming at the verge of a panic attack.

She couldn't see but she was aware of the phone being thrown on the bed.

"He'll kill you with his own bare hands when he finds out."

"Maybe, or maybe not. The good news is that we are going to find out."

She felt the blade against her neck:

"Remember, don't scream. I know exactly where he is right now and can get him killed in seconds."

He place a soft kiss on her neck while she cried. Vincent won't come, that she was certain of for the first time in her life.

"You're mine tonight, detective"


	2. Chapter 2

When he went out of the bathroom the first thing he did was turn the sound back on. Susan got out of the shower wearing just a small towel that she immediately dropped on the floor hoping that they will repeat what they did last night. However, Vincent's face told that something horrible had happened.

"We've got to come back to the city" he said packing his things up as fast as he could.

"What's wrong? I mean… I thought…" she felt so disappointed…

"I'm sorry, I've got a terrible feeling. I've missed a call from Cat and I got a weird message. We have to go back."

Once that dark hollow of guilt had settled in his stomach, he knew there was nothing he could do to get rid of it until he saw that Cat was fine. He knew it was not a good idea to turn the sound of his mobile off, in fact, he had never done it before, but he felt so well allowing himself to get lost into something so nice and new with Susan that he just wanted to act as someone normal and to forget everything outside that room. He would have loved to share that weekend with Cat, but things were a bit cold between them since Susan entered the game. The only thing that kept him from going off the rails was the thought that if Cat had called him she might as well have called JT or Tess. He didn't say a word during what seemed like an eternal way back to the city as his guts didn't allow him to talk. He just silently prayed that nothing wrong had happened to his girl.

When he finally left Susan at her apartment's door, he rushed to Cat's place. He rang the bell twice and when he didn't get an answer, he opened the door with the key he still had.

"Cat!" he cried as he entered the living room, eyes widely aware and heart trying to break his ribcage. There was no one there. He called her name again. Nothing yet. He rushed to the bedroom they used to share and nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to see. He had seen things like that before, in fact he had tortured people leaving them in this state. But this overwhelmed him, because this time it was someone he loved deeply who had been the innocent victim. Cat was lying on her bed partially covered with a white sheet where the red blood stains looked almost like giant poppies. She was blindfolded, gagged and handcuffed to the headboard. If not for the adrenaline rush he felt which make his blood boil in his veins, he would have fallen onto the floor. He rushed to her crying her name hoping it wasn't too late.

"Oh, God! Oh, God! Cat!"

He wasn't able to touch her because he knew everything hurt. It had to. All those cuts and bruises…The first thing that shocked him was that she repeated his name almost in a whisper, as if she was praying. She was conscious, what made his pain even deeper because she hadn't been allowed the benefit of not feeling pain for a while, of sleeping, of resting. After calling 911, he started to get her rid of the cuffs first, then the gag and the fold covering her eyes, which were open daring to look under the sheets and feeling mortified by the smell of blood and burnt skin. His legs couldn't hold him anymore and there he knelt down crying and praying like a child. At some moment she suddenly said she was sorry and he just lift her head up and hid her face in the crook of his neck trying to calm her down.

"Shhhh…Don't talk, please…I'm sorry I didn't answer the phone… How could I have imagined…"

When the emergency unit took her he was holding her hand all her way to hospital where JT was already waiting for them. None of them were allowed into the surgery area and they had to wait in the corridor for a couple of hours desperately waiting for some news.

"What I don't get is why she didn't call me, Vincent. When you didn't answer she should have called me…"

Vincent couldn't even speak. He had never been good at words and now he couldn't find the right ones being absorbed by the images his mind kept showing him of an almost dead Cat on her bed. Who could have done something like that to his girl? "His girl", his mind echoed. If she really were his girl he would have been with her last night in bed and this wouldn't have happened.

When the doctor came to talk to them, his face said it all. He was also shocked.

"Listen, I don't know and I'm not able to imagine what kind of monster could have done something like that. We almost lost her twice. She was lucky to have been injected with so much adrenaline maybe because that piece of crap didn't want her to miss anything he was doing. The thing is it turned into her own benefit. Take care of her, someone hates her deeply."

The last words echoed on his mind. He knew no one could ever hate her. Someone hated him and used her to hurt him and he was going to find him and kill him with his own bare hands. He just asked if he could see her and the doctor said that she was heavily drugged.

"I made myself sure she would be able to rest at least while she is here."

Vincent entered the room and took a chair to sit by her side. He took her hand and kissed it ever so softly. He didn't mean to wake her up, but she opened her eyes gathering all the strength she was left with.

"I'll be OK. Don't you dare blame yourself, please. I know you, and I know how you're feeling right now".

Two tears rolled from his eyes.

"Who did this to you, Cat?"

He was caressing the bandages on her wrists carefully.

"I don't know" she lied. "He allowed me a phone call, just a phone call…" she repeated " He said you were too busy with your new girlfriend… and I got one more chance to call you, just you…"

She fell asleep as she was talking and Vincent felt relieved watching her finally get some rest. JT had entered the room a couple of minutes ago and was standing behind Vincent looking at Cat's tiny figure.

"Thank God you didn't see her. When I found her… This will haunt me all my life. Have you heard about the calls?"

"Yes. Listen, this is not your fault. You can't be everywhere, you deserve to have a life."

Vincent didn't answer. She left the room swallowing the terrible lump in his throat. JT followed him.

"The doctor said she's got some serious burns between her legs".

"I know, I saw them, I smelt them "- he collapsed on the chair and let his head fall on his hands "JT, she was awake all the time, she felt everything!" he cried.

"We have to find whoever did this and kill him. You have to calm down. Relax, please."

The doctor approached them with some files and Vincent stood up and cleaned his face to talk to him.

"We couldn't find any DNA inside her, he was very careful."

"What do you mean "inside"? "Vincent's heart was already on his stomach and his mind wishing the doctor didn't mean what he thought he had.

"She was raped. I'm sorry… I had to inform you…"

His eyes suddenly shut, his long eyelashes resting on his cheeks as two hot tears ran down before he rushed inside the room where she was still sleeping and looked under the sheets, under her hospital robe, finding the signs he couldn't see before because of the blood, purple bruises and marks of teeth on her neck, her cleavage, her shoulders… The doctor and JT had followed him inside the room and both heard him scream in pain and rage. He was totally shocked and JT dragged him outside the room:

"We'll find him, Vincent. I swear".


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

He already knew what his friend was trying to explain. He had to control himself if he didn't want to make a mess here and now.

"She needs you, Vincent. The only face she would want to see when she wakes up is yours. Don't screw it up."

"You've seen her, JT…She's broken. The doctors said she will eventually recover but I'm not worried about her body, I'm worried about her soul. What she's going through…her mind will pay a price"

"So she will need you even more."

JT was trying to be the calm friend here, but he was as terrified as his friend right now. Tess had said she would be with them as soon as possible, and he knew that she would be of great help for Catherine once she woke up.

Vincent came into the room again and sat by the bed. The doctor had told them that she was going to be deeply asleep because of the sedatives, and Vincent couldn't help but think that this would be the best for her, even if he was now completely lost. Lost without her voice whispering in his ear, lost without the light she brought into his soul, lost without her. She took one of her hands in his and to his cheek, as if trying to make her feel he was there, he would always be, no matter what, even if he wasn't there when she needed him the most. No. He couldn't think about that right now, because he felt anger and that's not what she needs, she needs him to be calm, to be the man she deserves and not this stupid that ran away for a whole weekend with a new someone he called "girlfriend". How could he have been so blind? How couldn't he see that he was only running away from her, because in his fight for not hurting her he had decided that the best thing for her to be protected was if he left.

The three of them spent hours pacing the hospital hallway, emptily looking at their empty cups of coffee, trying not to lose sense of why they were here. Tess had been next to her bed for hours too. She had been talking to her, remembering things about how they met and how they came to work together, kissing her forehead and wishing her the rest she needed. She was terribly afraid for her friend because she was a woman, her best friend. She knew how she thought, a young woman in a men's world, always having to show that she deserve their trust, and she knew what Catherine would think when she woke up, that she hadn't been strong enough, that she hadn't fought enough, that what had happened to her was her fault, and what terrified her most, she would have to put up with their eyes, the questioning eyes of everybody around asking why, Vincent's eyes blaming himself and looking at her as a victim, pitying her deeply…She knew her friend and she didn't deserve anything of that.

At night, when only Vincent was awake by her bed with her fingers intertwined, he felt it. It was just an attempt, but he could feel her thumb trying to caress his hand. He immediately stood up and looked at her face to see her eyelids fighting to open.

"Catherine, I'm here. Open your eyes for me, baby"

And she tried, but she couldn't. She felt so warm and so safe in that induced darkness that she really didn't want to go back to the real world. Who was that? Who was calling her?

"Catherine, please, come back to me, beautiful."

She knew that voice. She had loved that voice from the very first moment she heard it, and she had loved the man behind the voice. Maybe she could just open her eyes to meet his again. But…if she did, she would have to tell him…she would have to face it… Her heart started a race to leave her ribcage when she started thinking about his eyes, about the way he would look at her once she told him everything… Tears started flooding and she wanted to open her eyes, she really wanted, but she couldn't. Her body started to shake and she felt the emptiness of her bare hand when Vincent let go of her to run for the nurses outside. He was immediately forced out of the room so that they could work inside. JT and Tess tried to calm him down. He needed to be patient, he needed to be calm for her. And he was so scared to lose her, that he couldn't think. When the nurses came out of the room they said Catherine had suffered a panic attack, but that she was awake now and they could talk to her.

"She wants to see Vincent", the older nurse said.

Vincent was surprised to hear that. How could she want to see him first after everything that had happened because he was not there for her? He came into the room ashamed and feeling that his heart was sinking in his stomach. When he got next to her, she tried to smile for him even if it hurt. He felt his tears running down his face when she touched his cheek.

"Vincent, shhhhhh…It's Ok. I will be Ok."

His sobs deepened.

"I'm so sorry, Cat", he whispered, his voice unable to come out without breaking.

"This is not your fault"

"I should have been there. I should have never left you. I didn't want to…I was just so scared that you weren't safe with me…"

"I love you, Vincent. And this means that I want you to be happy, even if it is with someone else." Her voice was almost a whisper.

"I love you, Catherine. I just love you so much that I couldn't bear it. I thought your life would better without me in it".

She simply exhaled a deep sigh.

"I'm scared." She said almost as if she was talking to herself. "I'm not the woman I was when I met you…what he did to me…"

"I know" He held her hand tighter, and took it to his lips.

She froze. He knew everything. She should have imagined he knew, after all, he was the one who found her and took her to the hospital. Suddenly, she saw all her courage fade, and she felt ashamed of herself. She wasn't even able to look at him again.

"Vincent, I…I want you to go"

Vincent looked at her terrified.

"I'm not going anywhere. I know what happened, what he did to you, and I want to help you recover from that."

"I don't want you to look at me that way!" She said in a louder voice than she intended.

"I'm not looking at you in a different way. This is what you think, this is what you fear. All I'm watching right now is the bravest, strongest woman I've ever met blaming herself for something it wasn't her fault. Please, don't ask me to leave." He was now crying on her hand, tears rolling down onto the sheets "I wasn't there for you…Just let me help you now"

She was shaking when he held her tight against his chest, trying not to harm her, and rocking both their bodies gently. He just needed a name, a single name and he will reduce that bastard to a shaking, beaten, bloody body asking for death. However, he knew this was not the right time to ask.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello. Thanks for your comments and reviews. I swear this will be moving forward in the next chapter. Just hang on there!**

 **Chapter 4**

The next time she woke up, she found Heather by her side. She was abroad when everything happened and since then she had been from airport to airport, from train to taxis to get back to her sister.

"Cath! Oh, my God, Cath", she cried jumping from the chair by the bed "I wanted so much to see your eyes again!"

Catherine let herself lose in her sister's hug and both sisters cried against each other for a while. She guessed she knew. She guessed everybody knew by then.

"Don't worry, Heath, I'll be Ok."

After all, she had spent all her life protecting her younger sister from the dark side of life. She could lie again.

Her days in the hospital were made easier thanks to the presence of the people she loved. The worst part of the day came after the nurses cleaned her and took care of all her wounds. They hurt as hell for a while until the medicines kicked in and she felt better. Vincent had behaved all those days, just taking care of her and not asking the questions tormenting him because he knew it was too soon. All her friends took turns to spend their nights with her, so that all of them felt helpful. One of the doctors had told her that, even if he could imagine how hard that experience must have been, an unwanted pregnancy or a STD would have made it even worse. She open her mouth to tell him a couple of things about how a girl felt when she is raped, but what was the point? He was a man. He wouldn't understand. Both Tess and Heather were very worried about Catherine because she acted as if she was OK. She never mentioned the torture, the fear, how weak she felt, how defenseless and trapped, and when one of them asked she always said she was doing fine.

A few days later she was discharged from hospital and both Tess and her sister camped in her living room to help her in the last part of her recovery. None of them was ready to leave her on her own until she was fully recovered. What all of them ignored though was that Vincent spent every night watching her sleep through the window.

"Girls, you don't need to do that, you know?"

"Yes, we do" her sister answered "We are not going to risk this sadist getting to you again. We are not leaving until he is in prison"

Tess cleared her throat before asking,

"Cath, can you remember anything about him? Any special detail that may help us find him?"

Of course she remembered, but she wasn't going to tell anyone, not to her friends, not even to Vincent, because when she was fully recovered, she was going to find him and kill him. For the first time in her life she thought that spending some years in prison was not even a punishment for what he had done to her. He deserved death.

"We are not leaving, sis." Heather said, coming out of the kitchen, unless you want Vincent here all broody hovering over your every move."

"No, thanks" She knew Vincent better than anyone and she was sure that he was somewhere near hiding in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to make a move.

Tess sat on the couch and asked Catherine to sit down.

"I know that you don't wanna talk about it, but you should really consider going to these sessions".

Catherine knew that sooner or later one of them was going to raise the topic and she wasn't ready to talk about it. God, she felt she would never be able to talk about it.

"I…I don't wanna talk with some stranger about…about that", she could feel tears flooding her eyes.

"It will help you, Cat. You have to tell someone before it breaks your heart"

"It already broke my heart, Tess", she cried feeling her sister's arms around her shoulders. "I don't know how I am going to survive this"

"I know" Tess said holding her hands in hers. "I don't know how someone will be able to recover from something like that. But we will figure it out together."

For the first time since she left the hospital, she allowed herself to cry till she felt there weren't any tears left, and then she suddenly said:

"I…I just can't get rid of the smell of my own burning skin, of the noise of his body slanting against mine, of his growls and moans in my ears, of his laughter…"

Both Tess and Heather were crying too.

"I'm so sorry, sis. I'm so sorry this happened to you", Heather sobbed.

"I didn't feel anything. I didn't feel pain. I think I was beyond pain at this point. I just felt it was being so easy for him to ruin me for Vincent…I knew he wasn't going to come, I wish he had!" she was crying again "And I swear to God that I don't want him to feel guilty but…" she couldn't say the words aloud because she knew she wasn't being fair. She was hurt.

Tess looked at her.

"Listen to me" she said while cupping her face "You are not ruined. Your mind will heal as well as your heart because you are strong and determined, you've always been. You have to find a way because if you don't he'll get what he wanted."

"He already got what he wanted"

"No! He hurt your body and you're not just a body. He wanted to hurt Vince and he did, through you. But you love each other and you'll find yourselves again."

A couple of hours later, Cat was sleeping in her bedroom when she felt the most terrible darkness surrounding her, something black and thick which spread quickly around her pressing her body in such a way that she couldn't breathe anymore. She gasped for air and fought against the shadows trying to shout his name. When finally cried "Vincent!" , it sounded like a primal scream, while shaking and trying to open her eyes. She felt his strong hands shaking her shoulders lightly and she sat up on her bed screaming not being able to open her eyes.

"Shhhhh… It's me, Catherine. I'm right here. You're safe."

She wasn't able to open her eyes for a while nor was she able to stop her shaking. Then, when she finally saw Vincent's face and noticed that he was holding her and kissing her temple, she just asked:

"What…What are you doing here?" He was the last person she expected to see there.

"I'm always here. I was with you every night at the hospital, and I'm going to stay around you even if you don't want to." She just let herself be hugged and warmed by his embrace.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked with the saddest look in his eyes.

"No".

"Ok. Can I lay with you while you go to sleep again?"

When she nodded, he just laid by her side holding her tight and kissing her hair. Once her breathing told him that she was asleep, he whispered:

"You will have to tell me who did this to you sooner or later".


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, again. Sorry for the delay and thank you for your kind comments and reviews. I hope you like this chapter. Please remember I am not a native speaker of English and I have no beta. I still don't own Beauty and the Beast because if I did, oh man…**

The only thing he would ask for if he were granted the chance would be just this: his nose in her hair, her back against his stomach and their legs intertwined, because this is what heaven is like on his mind, even if he wasn't able to sleep at nights. No. He couldn't, because he wouldn't fail her again. If he had learnt something about what had happened to her was that his soul couldn't bear her pain, and being certain that such pain could have easily been avoided had he been by her side that hideous night, only made it twice as unbearable. He learnt, _oh he learnt,_ for the first time in his life what it's like to see the person he loved most fade in front of his eyes not being able to do anything to bring her back. Something he had just noticed is that she was sleeping soundly, unlike any other of the nights he had spent watching her. She was resting, and God knows she needed the rest. He was more than familiar with the feeling of having something terrible, something beyond his control, flashing on his mind not letting him close his eyes without a terrible pang of guilt in his stomach. He was just enjoying the feeling of her warm body against his when she suddenly started to toss and turn while whispering some unintelligible words. She was dreaming. However, as her voice changed from a whisper to a louder sound, she started to tremble, and he strengthened his embrace trying to calm her down. Suddenly, she was repeating the same words over and over again. He couldn't identify the words at first, but then he thought he had heard something like "Nathan Stevenson". Who was that man? Was he the man who hurt her? How did she know his name? If he was someone who tried to hurt him through the woman he loved, why didn't the name ring a bell? He was sure he had never heard it before.

In spite of being intrigued by the name she had been repeating that night, he didn't leave her side. He wanted her to wake up with the first sunbeams and find him there, taking care of her, promising that this was what he was more than eager to offer if she just forgave him not being there for her. Before she opened her eyes, Vincent thought he had seen the ghost of a smile in her lips as she stretched, the sun lighting her perfect face, and he was so _so_ glad…she looked so innocent, so untouched by her horrible experience, that he didn't want her to wake up for a while, so that she could enjoy the feeling. She opened her eyes a couple of minutes later and looked at the ceiling and then at him in confusion till she clearly remembered that he was there because she told him so and by the way her eyes darkened he could tell she had also remembered the previous days.

"Morning, sunshine", he whispered. "How are you feeling?"

He didn't dare move but she left his embrace as soon as she was totally awake. Vincent knew he didn't have the right to feel hurt, but he did.

"I'm OK. I'm glad that you're here", she answered trying not to sound so cold.

"Where else would I be? I was worried about you."

"Thank you. But you don't have to". She rubbed her eyes.

"I do. I'm not going anywhere until you're fully recovered and that…that bastard is dead". Vincent's expression shadowed and she noticed.

"Vincent…"

"No, Catherine. I need to know who did this to you. I won't be able to sleep till I know he's paid for this".

"I don't know who did it. I couldn't see anything. I told the police and I'm telling you: I just don't know."

He left her side as she was sitting on her bed.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to push you. I know it's not the right moment…"

She didn't say anything. She had been so happy for a minute, before she remembered everything, and now…she was again the person she didn't want to be, the victim, the one with the terrible memories that will haunt her forever and surrounded by a lot of people who pitied her. Vincent took a deep breath and went towards the window. He didn't want to be seen by Heather and Tess and he knew they were in the dining room.

"I have to go now, but I'll come back"

She nodded not knowing what else to say or do.

Vincent didn't want to talk about this, at least not now that he had a name to look into, but he knew that she would notice if he didn't ask about it. He went straight to JT's to ask him for help. As soon as he opened the door, he broke into the house without a word:

"Good morning to you, too", was all JT could say before following him inside.

"There's no time for that. I need your help. I need you to find everything you can about Nathan Stevenson".

"And he is…?"

"I think he's the one who attacked Catherine".

"Did she finally tell you? I didn't think she would talk about this with you so soon."

"She didn't tell me, she just let the name out while she was sleeping. She was terrified, trembling and sweating…I'm sure it's him. It has to be him"

JT went to his computer and wrote the name and different pictures of different men under that name appeared on screen and Vincent went closer to look at them

"Does anyone seem familiar to you?" JT already knew the answer just by the expression on his friend's face. He was confused, as if he were watching something that cannot be possible.

"I know that man" he pointed at the screen "But…But…It can't be him"

"What do you mean it can't be him?" JT asked totally clueless.

"I killed him"

JT entered the file showing the man's picture to have a look at the information enclosed.

"Well, I'd say than one is quite alive. He lives in the centre, married, no children. He works in a chemist's…

"How is it possible? I never forget a face. I know I killed him. He was trying to rape a woman in an alley; I heard her screams and found them. I just tried to scare him, but we started a fight and I threw him against a wall" Vincent's eyes were looking somewhere beyond, as if he was reliving everything on his mind. "He was dead. I saw him. He was in the news the following day…"

"Ok, man. Let me have a look and I'll tell you if I find something else. You should go back to Catherine's". Vincent simply nodded and went out.

When he went back to Cath's, she was alone. Her sister and Tess had gone out to the grocery and she didn't feel like going out yet. In fact, she wanted to force herself to be alone because she was tired of being afraid in her own home. She had been thinking about all of this, not only about what had happened to her, but also about Vincent. She loved him, she had loved him from the very first moment they met. All of him. She had never been afraid of him because she knew he would never hurt her, she would always protect her even from herself. She had already decided that this was not his fault, just an unfortunate trick of her destiny, and she was ready to fight back, to start again. She had been looking for a professional who could help her and she had found a doctor and got herself an appointment for next Friday. She wasn't going to let herself die or hurt her friends and her sister more than they had already. The only thing she needed to start her way to recovery was to find the man who hurt her so much that she had wanted to be dead. She fell asleep on the sofa while thinking about his smell, his face, his touch. She had seen him, even if he wasn't aware she had been able to see his face for a couple of seconds, when her blindfold almost fell. She knew she had seen him before, she never forgot a face. She immediately replaced it on her eyes by rubbing it against her shoulder. She knew that if she came alive from this, she would find him and kill him. No one had ever hurt her so much that she had wanted to die. No one but this man.

Later, as days went by and she felt better, she gathered her strength and searched into the police files until she saw his face again. She only needed to be fully recovered to do what she wanted to do.

Vincent had rung the doorbell a couple of times, and when he didn't get an answer, he went to the rooftop and then entered the house through her bedroom window. He didn't like the silence that welcomed him and when he heard Catherine's screams in the living room, he freaked out and ran towards her voice. He found her lying on the couch, fighting an invisible harm and repeating "Let me go! Let me go!" He didn't want to scare her more, so he knelt down and held her wrists while shushing her so carefully that anyone would think he was talking to a small child.

"Shhhh. I'm here. Wake up, sweetheart. It's me. It's Vincent".

She opened her eyes, but he could tell she was not awake yet. She kept trying to free herself from his hold, and asking him to let her go. She was seeing him but she was not recognizing him, he was probably seeing the person who was hurting her, that's why she didn't stop fighting.

"Please, kill me, please!" she cried "Please, please… I can't stand the pain, please"

Vincent's hands were shaking, his chest tight and his heart aching watching her so lost and empty of all hope. How could someone have been so cruel to her? How could someone have been so evil with another human being? She didn't deserve it. He tried to place himself in her angle of vision so that she could see it was him, the man who would never harm her, the man who would die for her without blinking.

"Catherine, wake up, please!" He pleaded in a louder tone while surrounding her whole body with his arms and holding her wrists with his hands so that she couldn't hurt herself. When she finally reacted and found herself in Vincent's arms, she started to tremble like a leaf in the wind, her sobs digging a hole in Vincent's heart.

"I'm here. I'm here. I won't let him hurt you again. You're safe" He tried to sound as calm as he could letting her recover her breathing. "That's right, hon, that's right. Breathe in and then out. Shhhhh"

She relaxed in the warmth of his arms and felt him freeing her hands so slowly so as not to scare her. Her eyes were now looking into his, red rimmed and still holding some tears and she looked so lost, so innocent, so scared that he almost lost it. He thought that he wouldn't be able to hold his tears. He closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against hers while cupping her face in his hands.

"I'll find him and I'll kill him" He'd do it, she knew, unless she found him before.

He held her in his arms for a while, slowly rocking their bodies. The buzzing of his phone broke the silence. It was a text message from JT.

"I've found him."

Vincent tried to remain calm. He didn't want her to know what he already knew, that that scumbag had lived his last day.


	6. Chapter 6

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for following this story and for your patience. It's been a hard year for me and I had to leave some of my favourite activities. Happily, things are going back to its place and I hope I can do these activities again, among which is writing stories for you.

For those of you who have asked about the setting of this story, I'd say it's AU and in season 1.

Here we go again. Hope you like it.

 **Chapter 6.**

When he entered the living room, he found JT looking at his computer and he joined him to be confronted with the face of the man he had come to hate more than anyone in his life.

"I told you", JT said "He's not dead. You almost killed him but you didn't"

"But it was in the papers…" Vincent couldn't believe his own eyes.

"Maybe they just wanted to protect him from you, who knows? Anyway, I think I've found out the reason he hates you so much. He went through lots of surgeries due to harm in spinal cord and he can barely walk. That maybe the reason he attacked Cat when she was asleep."

The pity and pain he saw when he looked at his friend's eyes was beyond measure and JT felt that he had to apologize.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"It's Ok. How could he find me? That was years ago."

"Let's say that you have not been very careful with your goings and comings lately. Hate is the strongest motivation. The thing is he found you and Catherine and who knows how long he'd been planning to do what he did"

Rage settled in Vincent's eyes before he said,

"I'm going back to Cat's. I'm not leaving her again until that monster is dead"

At home, she had already found out about the man who attacked her. It hadn't been difficult as he had had been charged with a couple of sexual assaults and he had been in prison for one of them. This was long ago, before he started what looked like a "normal life" until her attack. She read the papers telling about some monster attacking a man in an alley and for the nth time she thought people should reconsider their definition of evil. "That had to be the moment" she thought "He was terribly injured" She was looking at a newspaper page that showed the consequences of the man's attack six months later. She also saw some videos where he was talking about it. Catherine turned her computer off as soon as she heard the footsteps along the corridor. She knew it was Vincent, his steps strong and determined. She was sure that Vincent wouldn't have attacked an innocent, but why he did that to Nathan remained still a mystery.

"Hey!", was all he said when she opened the door.

"Hey!", she smiled as he came in.

"Sorry for leaving you. There was something very important I had to do" he said while shaking what looked like two tickets in front of her eyes.

"What's that?"she asked trying to get them. Vincent just smiled sweetly hiding his hands behind his back before he said "I'll show you if you promise you'll say yes"

"Yes to what?" She was laughing now like a child waiting for a surprise. He loved that sound so much and he had missed it for so long that, without thinking, he approached to her lips and kissed her. He immediately backed out and apologized.

"I'm sorry, Cat…I…"

He couldn't find the words and he wished a hole had opened down his feet and swallowed him. However, Cat's reaction was calm and sweet. She took him by his arms and looked into his eyes.

"Don't be, Vincent," she whispered "Of all people in the world you are the only one I trust with my heart and my soul. I love you."

"I love you", he repeated softly before kissing her eyelids, her cheeks and then her lips again ever so softly.

"We'll overcome this together. I hope you have already understood that we are meant to be. No matter what, we always come back to each other. I know there's a long way for me, but I also know there's no one in the world I'd want to walk it with me but you"

They let themselves get lost in a warm embrace feeling each other's bodies. She couldn't avoid thinking that what she was planning to do will probably put an end to their story, but she also knew she had to.

She broke the moment on purpose.

"So… are you going to show me or not?"

Vincent gave her two tickets for a U2 concert and her eyes widened,

"Vincent…how…!"

"I have my contacts, you know" he bragged.

"Thank you! We deserve a normal night, don't we?"

"We do", he said in a whisper.


End file.
